Bloom Day - August 2017

We've been enjoying unusually pleasant weather for the past week.  The marine layer is back in position each morning, which keeps the afternoon temperatures down.  However, it is mid-summer, normally the lowest point in the gardening year here.  Although there are flowers scattered here and there throughout the garden, the heaviest concentration of floral color right now can be found in the cutting garden.  I gave up vegetables for flower seeds and bulbs this year and I'm very happy with the result.

It's not a large space but it's supporting a bevy of bees and butterflies

Dahlias, sunflowers and zinnias dominate the 3 raised planters, although there are also some flowering herbs, most notably 'African Blue' Oncimum, a noID Origanum, and Salvia elegans.

Dahlia 'Hakuyou' is a dinner-plate type.  This its first bloom.

Dahlia 'Loverboy', a semi-cactus type, is in competition with 'Terracotta' as the most vigorous thus far

Actually, Dahlia 'Little Robert', a pom-pom type, is a strong performer too but its smaller flowers make less of a splash

Dahlia 'Terracotta', another semi-cactus variety, has been over-taking 'Loverboy' in flower-power in the past 2 weeks

Meanwhile, Dahlia 'Punkin Spice', classified an an informal decorative type, is only now producing its first bloom.  Just 2 other dahlias grown from tubers, 'Fairway Spur' and 'Otto's Thrill', both dinner-plate varieties, have yet to show themselves, although both have finally produced buds.

The sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) surprised me by seemingly blooming all at once.  This one grew from a 'Flash Blend' seed mix.

I think this one is Helianthus annuus 'Lemon Queen' but I can't say I kept my seeds straight

I also mixed up my Zinnia seed mixes so I'm not even going to try to name these

In the back garden, Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' produced its largest flush of bloom yet in late July.  The blooms were already fading in early August when I took this photo, but I couldn't resist sharing it.  If there's a pattern to this Callistemon's bloom cycles, I haven't discovered it.

The flowers were already turning a buff color here but they were profuse and attracted both bees and butterflies.  Growers describe the flower color as pink but it reads as more of a rosy peach to me.

Other plants providing healthy flushes of flowers include the following:

While the pink variety of Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) isn't as vigorous this year as last year, the blue variety seems to be hanging on longer into the season than it has in prior years

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' continues to out-perform every other Gaillardia in my garden

Since adding 6 Alternanthera 'Little Ruby' to the narrow partial shade bed beside the house, I've been watering the area more to help those foliage plants establish good roots and that extra water has given the dark burgundy ivy geranium (Pelargonium peltatum) a major boost 

Pelargonium peltatum and Pandorea jasminoides continue to merge congenially over the arbor separating the cutting garden from the dry garden

Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' is off to a good start for the season that extends from late summer through winter

Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' is finally putting on a good show

As usual, certain ever-blooming plants continue to pump out new flowers, even if the volume has dipped in response to summer's toasty temperatures and bone dry conditions.

Clockwise from the left: Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', G. 'Superb', G. 'Ned Kelly', Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink', and Gomphrena decumbens 'Itsy Bitsy'

A couple of plants provided surprises on a small scale too.

A lone surprise lily (Amaryllis belladonna), also known as naked lady because it blooms well after its foliage has died back, appeared.  In 2015, Tammy Schmitt of Casa Mariposa sent me 2 dozen bulbs she rescued from an inhospitable spot in her garden.  Foliage emerged following our winter rains but thus far this is the only flower to make an appearance.  I have my fingers crossed that others will follow.

This is a recent purchase, Lotus jacobaeus.  It produced blooms much sooner than I'd expected.  They look like tiny black butterflies. 

I'll end this post with a few collages of flowers deserving honorable mentions.

From left to right: Anagallis monellii, blooming again after a severe haircut; Catananche caerulea, which has bloomed for 2 months now;Tibouchina urvilleana; and Trichostema 'Midnight Magic'

From the left: Bauhinia x blakeana, still with more flowers than leaves; Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom, back from near death; and an unexpected bloom on my noID purplish-pink rose

Clockwise from the upper left: Mandevilla 'Sun Parasol Apricot' with Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' beneath; Coreopsis 'Big Bang Redshift' with the best flush of bloom in years; Lantana camara 'Irene' also returning after a trim; one of few remaining Leucanthemum x superbum; noID Phalaeonopsis, which keeps producing new bloom spikes; and self-seeded Tanacetum parthenium

For more Bloom Day reports, visit our host, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

July Favorites

I'm still in my summer doldrums, where it's hard to see my garden's pluses.  The sun's glare shines a spotlight on its imperfections and, despite all the mulch and soil amendments I've added, my sandy soil sheds water faster than I can deliver it, leaving many plants looking perennially parched.   The mimosa tree's pink flowers have turned brown and continue to drop fuzz under its wide canopy.  Nonetheless, the favorite plant selection hosted monthly by Loree at danger garden encouraged me to take a closer look at what I've got and I found plenty to be pleased about.

I see this Agave ovatifolia (aka whale's tongue agave) first thing every morning through the bathroom window.  It looks good regardless of the season.  It was one of the first plants I put in the dry garden on the northeast side of the house after I cleared the area of weeds and the plastic sheeting buried several inches below compacted soil and gravel.  Planted almost 5 years ago in August 2012, it's still only 18 inches tall and about 28 inches in diameter.  Although it wasn't labeled as such, my guess is that it's the cultivar known as 'Frosty Blue'.  

In March 2012, I planted 3 Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' in the backyard border, where they've performed admirably ever since.  They're not actually in peak condition in the middle of summer but, if you could see the mass of bees and tiny butterflies that swarm the plants from early morning into evening at this time of year, you'd understand how they ended up on my July list.  Annie's Annuals & Perennials recently featured this Cuphea on its "indestructable plants" list.  Mine get watered 2x a week during the summer months by our automated irrigation system but I don't consider it a water hog and it takes our hot summers in stride.  As an aside, the unidentified butterfly is smaller than the average skipper and seemingly impossible to catch with its blue wings open.  Amy of A Small Sunny Garden has seen it in her garden in the Sonoran Desert too. It's underside wings appear similar to butterflies identified alternatively as the Hammock Skipper and the Cassius Blue but on-line input makes both IDs unlikely.

So far, Dahlia 'Loverboy' is the most vigorous of the Dahlias I purchased by mail order as tubers this spring.  Several others have yet to flower and a few plants, most notably 'Otto's Thrill', don't look as though they'll even reach bloom size this year.  'Loverboy' is identified as a semi-cactus type.  I don't usually go for red flowers and this one wasn't originally on my shopping list but, when many of my top picks sold out before I reached check-out, I picked this one as a substitute on the fly.   'Loverboy' may be a turning point in my relationship with red flowers.

The Echeverias are looking good in mid-summer.  All 3 of these are in pots kept in afternoon shade.  Left to right, they are: Echeveria 'Afterglow', E. cante, and E. 'Raindrops'.  

Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) has been the star of my summer garden for several years now.  In prior years, the pink forms outshone the blue, white, and yellow varieties but this year the blues have it.  The semi-succulent leaves help the plants survive our summer heatwaves.  The blue form appears to appreciate some afternoon shade.

The sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) I planted from seed in April finally began to bloom this month.  The first to do so are 'Lemon Queen', shown here.  Half a dozen or more flowers have opened since I took these photos.  So far, none of the plants have toppled over or broken in the wind but I did have to add supports to some of the taller stems.

Okay, I featured Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' in last month's favorites post but, when I caught a photo of the leaves in the early morning sunlight, I had to share it again.  It makes great use of the early morning and late evening sunshine and, in my opinion, should always be sited to take advantage of it.

Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherry Brandy' has provided me a lesson in patience.  I planted 2 six-packs (plugs) of these plants in early November last year.  They've previously bloomed off and on throughout the year for me but this time they made me wait until summer to bloom.  However, this is the only Rudbeckia that's ever done well here so I'll forgive it the delay, especially as every source I've consulted indicates that my prior experience was unusual and that it normally blooms summer to fall.

This is Sedum oxypetalum (aka dwarf tree stonecrop), which I picked up earlier this year at the local Cactus & Succulent Society show and sale.  The plant is suitable to treatment as a bonsai subject to keep it smaller than its projected mature size of 2-4 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide.  While mine is placed in full sun, it tolerates shade as well.  It also has low water requirements.  The flowers are a bonus in my view as its foliage and tree-like form is what attracted me to it.

My Zinnias, most grown from seed, are even splashier than the Dahlias in my cutting garden.  They do need a substantial amount of water to thrive, which is why I've restricted them to these raised planters in what formerly functioned as my vegetable garden.  However, they handle summer's heat with aplomb.  The variety of colors and flower forms also makes them useful in floral arrangements.

With the exception of succulents, buying new plants in summer is at the top of my list of garden don'ts; yet it's a rule I break just about every year.  Featuring any such recent purchase as a "favorite" within a month or less of purchase also seems inadvisable as it could easily be dead before summer draws to a close but, because I can't help myself, here are 3 additions to my list of favorites this July.  Perhaps I should refer to them as "plant crushes" rather than favorites as they could be history in no time.

The burgundy beauty in these 2 photos is Alternanthera 'Little Ruby'.  I added 5 of them at the edge of the narrow bed that runs outside our dining and living room windows.  I like how they pick up the purple in the stems and leaf undersides of Plectranthus 'Zulu Wonder' (left) and complement the deep burgundy of Pelargonium peltatum (right).  They get morning sun and afternoon shade.  I've grown other Alternanthera as ground covers with relative success.  They're short-lived perennials here and most have gotten by with moderate water but the descriptions of 'Little Ruby' all refer to moist, well-drained soil so I have some concern in that regard.  Hopefully, I'll keep it from going belly up before the winter rains return.

The grass-like plant in the middle of this photo is Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty', a new hybrid.  I picked it up and put it down several times before I took it to the check-out stand.  It was a pricey plant but I've had great success with Lomandra 'Breeze' so I found I couldn't pass this one up.  It's a low-water evergreen plant that grows no bigger than 3x3 feet and it's good in sun or partial shade.  I've planted it among succulents on my front-facing slope, replacing Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln', which apparently wanted more water than it got in this location.

Mandevilla 'Sun Parasol Apricot' was another impulse purchase.  I first saw it in early June and managed to walk away but I ran into again a week ago at my local garden center, offered in its own hanging basket at a lower cost than the plant in the nursery pot I originally saw.  As the succulent planter I had hanging by the front door was in need of an overhaul, I decided this could be a summer substitute.  Mandevilla generally do well here year-round, although I've never grown one in a hanging basket before.  According to on-line sources, it should be allowed to dry out before being watered. which gives it improved chances of survival. 

That's my July list.  I can only hope things look as positive at the end of August.  Visit Loree at danger garden to see what's found her favor this month, as well as links to related posts by other bloggers.  And, for what's looking good across the pond, check Chloris' top 10 list for July at The Blooming Garden.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend!


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: A little of this and a little of that

There's quite a bit in bloom right now during Southern California's "second spring" but it still wasn't easy to put together a bouquet this week.  Much of what's available doesn't combine well and most of the floral material has short stems, limiting what can be done with it.  So this week's vase has a little of this and a little of that.

The color scheme was set by the fluffy bloom of Calliandra haematocephala, also known as Pink Powder Puff.  I have several of these evergreen shrubs espaliered against walls.  They're sheared frequently to keep them from sprawling into walkways as they're prone to do, which means that I seldom get flowers so I was pleased to find this one.

How long the Calliandra flower will last in a vase is an open question

In addition to the Calliandra, the vase contains:

• Alstroemeria (no ID)
• Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold'
• Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink'
• Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'
• Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy'

The Alstroemeria stem was discovered by accident, hidden below the Cuphea

This Cuphea blooms all year - at least until I hack it back

The feathery plumes of the Pennisetum were beaten down by last week's rain but they recovered quickly

This Rudbeckia was a deeper red than most of the 'Cherry Brandy' in my front border

I picked a few flowers in a very different color range as well.  These ended up in one of my tiny vases.

This vase contains 2 varieties of Gaillardia, 'Goblin' and 'Peach Mesa,' as well as stems of Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' and Bougainvillea

Finding spots for this week's vases proved to be a challenge.  The vase I featured 2 weeks ago with Toyon berries and Gomphrena is still sitting on the dining room table, looking very much like it did in last week's follow-up photo.  And last week's vase containing the blue and white Eustoma is still sitting in the entryway, minus the yellow roses and the Prostanthera foliage.

So the first of this week's vases ended up on the fireplace mantle in the master bedroom and the tiny vase landed on a side table in the living room.

This week's vases were prepared as my contribution to Cathy's weekly meme at Rambling in the Garden.  Visit her blog to see what she has put together this week and what other gardeners have to offer.  As winter descends in many areas, gardeners are finding it more challenging to assemble vases but you can trust that quite a few have risen to the challenge.


 All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - October 2014

The monthly floral celebration that is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens, has sneaked up on me yet again.  With most of my available time absorbed in preparing the former lawn area in the front yard for planting, I've given very little attention to tidying up my garden, which makes picture-taking more difficult.  In addition, almost one month into the fall season, I'd normally have refreshed my garden beds but there's been no time for much of that either.

I took a look at last year's October Bloom Day post and, while some of the same plants are blooming for me on schedule this year, others are no-shows.  In some cases, as with my Coreopsis, Eustoma, and Osteospermum, my plants have already exhausted themselves (although I think the Eustoma is gearing up for a return visit).  Other plants, like my Acanthus mollis 'Summer Beauty' and Argyrantemum, haven't made an appearance since spring, which I attribute to the reduced irrigation associated with our drought.  Still others, like Centranthus ruber and Agapanthus appear disinclined to make the unseasonably early appearances they made last year.

With those disclaimers, here are the plants currently blooming in my garden, listed alphabetically by genus.

Ageratum houstonianium 'Blue Horizon' has perked up since the weather began to cool

Anigozanthos 'Bush Gem Yellow' is still blooming

I recently discovered that this Bougainvillea, on the back side of the hedge I thought represented our property line, is officially on our property

Camellia sasanqua has produced just a few tentative blooms thus far

Cuphea ignea 'Starfire Pink' and Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' have been in bloom most of the year

Duranta erecta, in a pot, has responded to haphazard watering by blooming more this year

Flowers produced by an Echeveria (no record of variety)

Gazania 'New Day Yellow' blooming at the feet of Mexican feather grass

One of my most recent acquisitions, red and orange Gomphrena haageana

Grevillea 'Superb,' seated in front of Nandina domestica, is suddenly producing abundant blooms

Hebe 'Wiri Blush,' sitting in front of Phormium 'Dark Delight,' has produced a new flush of flowers

I'd planned to move this Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem' but it won't stop blooming - it's on it's 3rd cycle this year

An unidentified Hoya I've had forever is blooming again despite repeated aphid infestattions

Lavandula multifida (aka fernleaf lavender) is hard to photograph but so are skipper butterflies

Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' dried up a bit in the last heatwave

The flowers of Nandina domestica have been replaced by orange berries, which will gradually turn red (ignore the ugly air conditioning unit behind the shrub)

Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' is doing its best to hide the bare dirt formerly covered by lawn behind it

Pentas lanceolata 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' has also produced a new flush of bloom

Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Warrior' celebrates every October by bursting into bloom (although its foliage gets a little ratty)

Prostrate rosemary, almost always in bloom, plays host to bees all day

Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy' handled the recent heatwaves better than the rest of my Rubeckia, although the foliage on most of my plants doesn't look as good as this

Salvia leucantha (aka Mexican bush sage) is another reliable October bloomer

Salvia 'Mesa Azure' looks better in person than it does in this photo

If dead-headed every 2-4 weeks, Salvia 'Mystic Spires' keeps on blooming

This dwarf Tagetes lemmonii (aka Copper Canyon Daisy) has lost its bushy shape and flopped over but I still love the sweet-smelling flowers

That's it for this month's bloom wrap-up from my little corner of coastal Southern California.  Carol  at May Dreams Gardens can connect you with other gardeners from all over the world with blooms to share.


All material © 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party